Nikon today updated their Z8 Service Advisory page to include repair for the strap lug issue I previously reported. All Z8 owners should use the Service Advisory page instructions to see if their camera is affecting, even if you have previously had your Z8 checked for the lens mount issue. The Nikon page seems to know which cameras have already been serviced for the mount issue and won't re-identify that problem when you make a second submission.
I have two Z8's at the moment on my desk, whose serial numbers are 10,000 apart, the latter being one of the most recent ones shipped in the US. Both triggered the strap lug service repair. So my guess is that this the Service Advisory probably impacts all cameras that have shipped to date.
The curious language in Nikon's advisory is this: "this issue may occur if a Z8 camera strap eyelet is subjected to conditions such as a strong impact or continuous heavy stress." That does not jibe with at least one report I've been able to verify. I suspect that vibration during transit may be another triggering issue. These things, along with how many units are affected, seem to point to a design flaw, not a manufacturing one.
If you own a Z8, you should absolutely schedule sending it in for repair. However, given how many units are involved, how long it will take to get the top plate off to make the repair, I believe we're going to see that Nikon gets backed up on repairs fairly quickly (see note at bottom). For those of us getting ready for upcoming trips, that becomes a scheduling issue. Thus, you may want to wait awhile before submitting your Z8 to service. If you do, the advisory's wording says you should not trust the strap connection until your camera is repaired.
There are other ways of carrying a camera other than neck strap. Many of us use straps connected to lens plates (for long lenses), or to an Arca-Swiss style plate on the camera's bottom. My reason for doing so has been that I generally side carry my camera (shoulder rather than neck) and want to bring it up to my face naturally (for a camera hanging upside down at my left side, it's a natural grab with the right hand to pull up that orients the camera correctly). Another approach would be to use a Cotton Carrier or similar "grabber" carrying system.
Finally, a word about responsibility. As I've pointed out several times, Nikon takes ownership of its issues and fixes them. I've seen a lot of maligning of Nikon—didn't address this fast enough, makes shoddy gear, is unresponsive—as well as quite a few xenophobic responses regarding where the cameras are made.
I'm generally not a Nikon defender, as most of you reading this know, however in this case they did exactly what I predicted they would do: they traded a couple of impacted cameras for new ones, sent the affected cameras back to Japan for study, determined what might have caused the issue, came up with a plan for dealing with that, put it in place, and then announced the Service Advisory. That is not something that takes place instantly, nor would I want a company to make knee-jerk reactions to what might be a real problem. Nikon did the responsible thing, so I think we need to give them credit for that.
That said, this is not the first time that something that should have been caught prior to shipping product has tripped up Nikon. In the last decade we've had the D600 shutter issues, the D800 frame and focus issues, the D750 mirror box issues that all rise to this same level of requiring return-for-repair. I thought those were behind us, but apparently not. This points to a quality assurance issue. It doesn't help that users are constantly putting pressure on the camera companies to produce new, state-of-the-art gear, and complaining when assumed iteration deadlines are passed (myself included).
Note: one thing that has caught a couple people unawares, including myself, is that we're all fast to click through on inter pages. That page with the I Understand button on it says that you won't immediately get a shipping label. NikonUSA is scheduling repairs, so what's going to happen with so many cameras needing the fix is that there are going to be delays in getting it done. It's basically a first-come, first-served queue that's being set up. The email NikonUSA is currently sending as you finish your repair request says in Step 2 to print your packing list and shipping label, which many, including me, are reading to imply we already have them. You only have the packing list at the end of the repair request process. A shipping label will be sent when Nikon is ready to work on your camera.
This has implications. If you're using your camera between asking for repair and getting repair, you need to not trust the strap lugs.
Update: It appears that cameras that were at NikonUSA this week for mount repair are also being repaired for the strap lug problem, as they don't show up as needing the repair when you use the Service Advisory serial number lookup.
